News 'Beyond Big Thunder Mountain' Blue Sky concept revealed for Magic Kingdom

[correcaminos]

I didn't say Coco and Encanto are related, I said Mexico (Coco) and the American Southwest (Frontierland) are related. I didn't say a single thing about Encanto, please don't put words in my mouth.

Coco could fit in Frontierland. Please stop extending my position to what some other poster said that I never did.

Disagree with this is all. Even Mexico is diverse in itself with different histories and backgrounds to say it's remotely close to Frontierland. TexMex and New Mexico may have some ties to Mexico but even then not enough to make a leap from Frontierland to Mexico. Also Coco takes place in Guanajuato, Mexico (near Ciudad de México) which is over 1000km from southern parts of Texas. Not all Mexico is the same as I said.

And truly sorry about the Encanto add on. Felt like you were justifying what was said about tossing together.

 

[matt9112]

I didn't say Coco and Encanto are related, I said Mexico (Coco) and the American Southwest (Frontierland) are related. I didn't say a single thing about Encanto, please don't put words in my mouth.

Coco could fit in Frontierland. Please stop extending my position to what some other poster said that I never did.

Coco can’t….art styles clash. And if we’re going to be realistic we need a few wars!

Frontierland to me also isn’t “just” the southwest I feels a little just west? Whole going west for gold thing.

 

[MrPromey]

I've assumed that the original plan was for Coco to go into Mexico, then they realized it's just not feasible -- at least not without shutting down the Mexico Pavilion to make significant structural changes.

All that retail space closed for an extended time?! The horror!

But I get it - for Bob and Josh, the nightmares are real.

 

[MrPromey]

So, if Epcot is getting Moana's Journey of Water, is AK getting Moana's Journey In Water?

This means Adventureland will be getting new restrooms - Moana's Release of Water.

 

[mysto]

This means Adventureland will be getting new restrooms - Moana's Release of Water.

There is no ROI on restrooms. I actually thought they'd announce at d23 that they were tearing them all down and replacing them with film shops. Maybe next year.

 

[MrPromey]

There is no ROI on restrooms. I actually thought they'd announce at d23 that they were tearing them all down and replacing them with film shops. Maybe next year.

I know but they went all out to put Tangled in the MK (and that movie didn't even have a water theme or pee joke in it) so it was just a guess.

 

[Rich Brownn]

View attachment 666179

If you’re willing to sacrifice Small World (as is), there are some options here this opens up…

SmallWorld 2.0, B&B ride from Tokyo, Tangled bathrooms get an attraction, New Orleans Square, Coco, Villains, Encanto, a second entrance themed to Shanghai Mickey Ave, Premium Parking directly attached, and a Princess Themed hotel

You just put an attraction on the tunnel entrance . Unless you were planning on extending the roof. LOL.. the best (but unlikely) would move IASW back further, put in the slope passageway, and open the land up (you'd have to disguise the HM show building of course). It would still be easier just to build a passageway from Frontierland with a swing bridge

 

[Rich Brownn]

Ok, as a not snide comment, I'm pretty sure that path would mess with the Utilidor system. INSTEAD, put the entrance to the tunnels UNDERGROUND, and make the path like so:
View attachment 666189

I technically is underground - that part of the Magic Kingdom is on the roof. You can't actually go very low underground here.

 

[MrPromey]

The hatbox thing was exciting to talk about during that haunted mansion referub they did back in 2007. Trotting him out now as a mega announcement is super weird. That was almost twenty years ago when people cared

And from what I understood back then, the figure for WDW was made at the same time and put into storage for during a WDW refurb some day... which I guess, looks like it's finally coming up?

Who knows, maybe we'll see the BTM enhancements to replace the non-working colapsing mine shaft scene some day after all - if we all live long enough, that is.

 

[CaptainAmerica]

Disagree with this is all. Even Mexico is diverse in itself with different histories and backgrounds to say it's remotely close to Frontierland. TexMex and New Mexico may have some ties to Mexico but even then not enough to make a leap from Frontierland to Mexico. Also Coco takes place in Guanajuato, Mexico (near Ciudad de México) which is over 1000km from southern parts of Texas. Not all Mexico is the same as I said.

And truly sorry about the Encanto add on. Felt like you were justifying what was said about tossing together.

Fantasyland has France, Germany, England, and other European countries side by side. Frontierland doesn't need to be culturally cohesive, it just has to be vaguely desert-ish. Heck, Coco belongs in Frontierland at least as much as Splash Mountain does (new or old).

Similarly, Adventureland can be anything vaguely jungle-ish, and could include Encanto. Fantasyland is anything magical-ish, and can take villains. Tomorrowland is anything space-ish or technology-ish.

This is not to say the "history and background" of Coco and Big Thunder Mountain are the same, it's that "history and background" are entirely irrelevant in a Magic Kingdom theme park land.

The Swiss Family Robinson crashed in the East Indies, and they're neighbors with a fictional Arab nation near the Jordan River, a group of pirates in the Caribbean Sea, some Mexican-German-Irish-French-Polynesian singing parrots, and the cutest little bird you've ever seen hawking (pun intended) Florida oranges.

 

[SteamboatJoe]

I know that I am honestly specifically referring the the poster I quoted. They attached it to Frontierland, not me. This is the heart of my issue. Add a new land and make it somehow related magically, and I'm cool (and don't be lazy and connect it by a language only) They connected Fronteirland to US SW and then Mexico and then Colombia. That's just... ummm... yeah. Make it connect in a meaningful way, not an offensive one. I hope that makes sense.

I guess I wasn't clear enough. These newer areas only relate to Frontierland in a visual sense, not so much cultural or historical.

Big Thunder looks like something out of Monument Valley. Mexico is, relatively speaking, close to that area and many parts of its landscape look similar to the SW U.S. As such, Coco next to Big Thunder is contextually appropriate from an aesthetic point of view. Its not a jarring transition like we have with Mad Tea Party and Cosmic Rays.

Mexico and Colombia are obviously distinctly different nations with unique cultures and history. I didn't mean to suggest they were interchangeable or indistinguishable but I don't think I am reaching when I say there are some visual elements (as well as language) which are similar. These commonalities again make for a seamless and appropriate transition from one to the other.

I merely threw out the village idea because I think basing an entire land off an IP, especially one with only one film in its catalogue, is a bad idea as IPs can grow stale and lose relevance. Creating a more generalized space and using common themes between two things to unite them can help tie everything together and provides the flexibility for the land to grow and evolve over time. I think such a village could be designed in such a way that prevents the aforementioned pitfalls while still respecting the unique aspects of each film/country.

 

[SteamboatJoe]

Fantasyland has France, Germany, England, and other European countries side by side. Frontierland doesn't need to be culturally cohesive, it just has to be vaguely desert-ish. Heck, Coco belongs in Frontierland at least as much as Splash Mountain does (new or old).

Similarly, Adventureland can be anything vaguely jungle-ish, and could include Encanto. Fantasyland is anything magical-ish, and can take villains. Tomorrowland is anything space-ish or technology-ish.

This is not to say the "history and background" of Coco and Big Thunder Mountain are the same, it's that "history and background" are entirely irrelevant in a Magic Kingdom theme park land.

The Swiss Family Robinson crashed in the East Indies, and they're neighbors with a fictional Arab nation near the Jordan River, a group of pirates in the Caribbean Sea, some Mexican-German-Irish-French-Polynesian singing parrots, and the cutest little bird you've ever seen hawking (pun intended) Florida oranges.

Advenureland is a great example of how Disney tries to use certain visual commonalities to transition you between some pretty radically different cultures without you really realizing it. The same can be said of the transition from Liberty Square into Fantasyland.

 

[correcaminos]

I guess I wasn't clear enough. These newer areas only relate to Frontierland in a visual sense, not so much cultural or historical.

Big Thunder looks like something out of Monument Valley. Mexico is, relatively speaking, close to that area and many parts of its landscape look similar to the SW U.S. As such, Coco next to Big Thunder is contextually appropriate from an aesthetic point of view. Its not a jarring transition like we have with Mad Tea Party and Cosmic Rays.

Mexico and Colombia are obviously distinctly different nations with unique cultures and history. I didn't mean to suggest they were interchangeable or indistinguishable but I don't think I am reaching when I say there are some visual elements (as well as language) which are similar. These commonalities again make for a seamless and appropriate transition from one to the other.

I merely threw out the village idea because I think basing an entire land off an IP, especially one with only one film in its catalogue, is a bad idea as IPs can grow stale and lose relevance. Creating a more generalized space and using common themes between two things to unite them can help tie everything together and provides the flexibility for the land to grow and evolve over time. I think such a village could be designed in such a way that prevents the aforementioned pitfalls while still respecting the unique aspects of each film/country.

We'll have to agree to disagree on this one. While Mexico boarders United States SW, central Mexico us entirely different in feel. But that's okay to agree to disagree, however I do get your thoughts.

Obviously cool adding both next to each other, just want to be more of a good connection.

 

[SteamboatJoe]

Big Thunder is set in the American Southwest, a dry, arid place with mountains and deserts.

Santa Cecelia in Coco was inspired by Guanajuato (city) but is not necessarily in Guanajuato. Never the less Wikipedia describes the State of Guanajuato as, "between the arid north of the country and the lusher south, and is geographically part of the Trans-Mexican Volcanic Belt, the Mexican Plateau."

The Mexican Plateau, "is a large arid-to-semiarid plateau that occupies much of northern and central Mexico. Averaging 1,825 m (5,988 ft) above sea level, it extends from the United States border in the north to the Trans-Mexican Volcanic Belt in the south, and is bounded by the Sierra Madre Occidental and Sierra Madre Oriental to the west and east, respectively."

 

[SteamboatJoe]

We'll have to agree to disagree on this one. While Mexico boarders United States SW, central Mexico us entirely different in feel. But that's okay to agree to disagree, however I do get your thoughts.

Obviously cool adding both next to each other, just want to be more of a good connection.

If by feel you mean culture than certainly yes. But my other post comparing the geographies of the two areas I think demonstrates there is enough common ground to warrant them being placed next to one another.

 

[DisneyDodo]

If they want to combine Coco and Encanto into a single land, and want to avoid going the geographic route (i.e. Latin America Land), there’s another angle that could work — both films are centered around family. They can create a new Familyland featuring these IPs, which would have the benefit of being a generic enough theme to allow for the incorporation of other IPs in the future. This land could match the versatility of other MK lands like Fantasyland and Adventureland, which easily accommodate a whole slew of different properties.

 

[Ragerunner]

If either of those attractions in MK open in 2026, I'll buy you a one day ticket.

You are probably right, but 2027 would be in play. Maybe, if they don’t take as many water breaks.

 

[Mike S]

I’m down with it if it happens. It’s definitely a heck of a lot more thematically cohesive than shoving Star Wars behind Frontierland that’s for sure and if this wraps around to Fantasyland that’s perfect for the villains. You’ll just have to make a nice transition from Encanto.

 

[James Alucobond]

You’ll just have to make a nice transition from Encanto.

Should be this mountain from the Encanto side, with the gap sufficiently widened, of course. Could be carved to look like Chernobog's wings or something on the reverse side for the villain area.

 

[CaptainAmerica]

Should be this mountain from the Encanto side, with the gap sufficiently widened, of course. Could be carved to look like Chernobog's wings or something on the reverse side for the villain area.
View attachment 666412

The mountain Disney stole from Nintendo?